Reading the article of McLaughlin (1992) Myths and Misconceptions about Second L anguage Learning What every teacher

needs to unlearn Reading the article of McLaughlin (1992) Myths and Misconceptions about Second L anguage Learning What every teacher needs to unlearn, it seems that some teachers and parents in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia believe in these five myths that a ch ild is a better foreign language learner than an adult or an adolescent. Nunan ( 1999) rejects these myths due to lack of empirical evidence. Believing in such m yths has resulted in Saudi parents sending their children to Westernised private schools that start teaching English at an early age. These private schools in K SA usually share certain qualities such as the smaller number of students per cl ass (20-25), the proficiency of teachers, and the use of technology in teaching the language. However, the question posed of whether or not it is true that lear ning a language deals with the age of the learner. In this essay I attempt to an swer this question addressing each of the myths that have also reflected on the Saudi context. Harmer (2001), who criticised the idea of young learners being better than adult , argues about a number of normally seized beliefs or ideas about age. The first belief is some people claim that children learn a language faster than adults. They speak to children who emerge to pick up new languages fluently. Maybe this idea relates to the plasticity of a young brain (Lenneberg, 1967; Penfield & Rob erts, 1959). Secondly, Pinker (1994, 293) says acquisition is certain for childr en up to the age of six, and then it steadily compromise until shortly after pub erty; this applies not only to the acquisition of the first language, but also t o second or foreign language. According to many researchers such as Geneses, (19 81; Harley, 1989; Newport, 1990) the critical period may echo social as well as psychological features other than the biological ones. I personally have some do ubt about constricting acquisition to learners under the age of puberty, as peop le with no education and at late age stages can still acquire a language or more . An example is the tour guides in Egypt. The misconception about ages and learn ing English is explained in the following example. In KSA, students at public sc hools did not start English until they entered intermediate school (aged 12), bu t there has been a recent change, and English is integrated in Saudi schools aft er a massive study four years ago (Al-Jazirah, 2008). Another wrong belief is that learners of different ages are the same with simila r learning abilities. Harmer (2001) investigates each age-group separately to il lustrate the differences between them. In the case of the YLs, in particular tho se aged nine or ten, learn differently from older children, adolescent and adult learners in certain ways. YLs respond to meaning even if they do not understand certain words and they often learn indirectly rather than directly. With childr en we need to use more realia and body language, moreover children need the teac hers consent in everything they do in the classroom. In the case of YLs, teachers in KSA have to encourage the students and make them work in groups to develop g ood relationships. A lot of variety of activities should vary in order for stude nts not to feel bored. Halliwell (1992, 18) adds that it is impossible for child ren to spend all their time sitting still in rows or even talking to the teacher since children like to discover new things and like to use their imagination; t hey can be easily involved in games, drawing things or even songs which what mos t teachers do either in private or public schools in KSA. Another wrong belief is that the more children are exposed to the new language, the quicker they learn it. However, a study conducted by Cummins (1981, cited in Ramirez, Yuen & Ramey, 1991) shows that children who were taught in bilingual c lasses acquired the same language skills equivalent to their peers taught in Eng lish classes only. This indicates that YLs around the world and in KSA share sim ilar language learning abilities in both environments. Although it is not very c ommon, there are some examples of Saudi bilingual families that communicate in t wo languages. There is also the misconception that children can acquire the language once they speak it which is not true since children can be talented in speaking and faceto-face communication; however, it is not essential to attain proficiency in oth er language activities or grades McLaughlin (1992). Learning a second language n

eeds time and effort from the teachers and their YLs no matter how much children were quite talented orally. It is not easy to teach children effectively according to Cameron (2003) who men tions the difficulty of finding proficient teachers with the suitable skills Rix on (2000) which is also the case in KSA. There are many empirical researches abo ut teaching English to young learners (TEYL) which is increasing in the ELT fiel d; however, it is not being taken seriously by teachers Cameron (2003). Moreover , there is little research about the Saudi case. Another challenge is the lack of resources of TEYL in KSA, such as professional books and innovative ways in teaching since some teachers do not take into consi deration that children are different from adolescent and adults. Also, the lack of professional training of teachers in KSA which makes it is quite difficult to understand the learners needs. There are other factors that challenge the Saudi teachers of YLs such as dealing with YLs and motivating them given that Gardner and Lambert (1972) pay attentio n to motivation because both think that many factors depend on motivation. They believe that if the learner is not motivated, he/she will not take risks in lear ning the language or even paying any attention to learn it. Unfortunately, some Saudi teachers may do little about what happens outside the classroom; however, they can do a lot in the classroom. Intrinsic motivation plays a significant rol e in the accomplishment or the failure of many language learners. Moreover, stud ents sometimes start without any extrinsic motivation especially school students , so it is up to the teacher to make her/his class interesting and full of enjoy ment. As for Saudi YLs who usually come full of enthusiasm and eagerness to lear n, but they are doomed to be shocked when some teachers treat them (the students ) as chairs and makes her/his class a teacher-centered classroom rather than a s tudent-centered classroom all the time . We as educators need to take into consi deration the needs of the learners and get them engaged in the process of learni ng the language so that the learning process could be promoted. Teachers at Saud i public schools regretfully ignore the needs of their learners or follow tradit ional methods. Moreover, they consider English unimportant subject and they teac h only few classes a week. It is also the general attitude of some tribal or rur al population in KSA against foreign languages in general. The difficulty of assessing YLs is another factor, instead of testing YLs; we ca n follow on-going assessment or the design of the portfolio (Debyser and Taglian te, 2001) which is recently among teachers in KSA. We can not be certain of a thriving prescription to teaching English in KSA, sin ce each class needs a formula by itself. Nevertheless I would like to suggest us ing the learning-centred approach Cameron (2001). On the whole, children appear very enthusiastic about learning new things. Their major aim is to get evaluatio n from their teacher by following her/his instructions; nevertheless, they lose interest very quickly and can be very shy when asked to speak the target languag e. YLs are different from adults since they do not have the similar development of meta-language as older learners do that facilitates the explanation of gramma r or discourse. According to Cameron (2001) the learner-centred approach takes i nto consideration the knowledge of a childs learning and its usefulness given tha t it puts the childs interest at most. In KSA, English is only used in the classroom, this idea should change. Teachers and parents of YLs should encourage the use of English everywhere also, accept the fact that there are learning abilities and not everyone is excellent. Progre ss and high marks require time and effort from the learner. There are five misconceptions about young learners that people and parent believ e in KSA which I discussed in my essay such as childrens ability to learn faster than other learners, the more they are exposed, the more they learn better and t heir acquisition of the language once they speak it at a younger age. The paper suggested that there is no perfect principled approach to teaching YLs, teachers have to experiment various methods to improve the quality of teaching and learn ing of YLs in the future for Saudi YLs. REFERENCE: Al Jazirah NewsPaper (2008)

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